Editorial: Minimum reforms

Thursday

Dec 19, 2013 at 12:01 AM

It makes a statement that federal sentencing reforms have bipartisan support in a typically divided Congress.

It makes a statement that federal sentencing reforms have bipartisan support in a typically divided Congress.After years of efforts to appear tough on crime that crowded prisons with nonviolent drug offenders, there appears to be a growing recognition that the approach hasn't worked. It has a questionable benefit to public safety and is wasting taxpayer money, which likely explains the issue's bipartisan appeal.Two bills scheduled for a hearing today before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee would continue to reform mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and other nonviolent offenses. Those sentences have helped cause the United States to have the world's highest incarceration rate.The first bill, the Smarter Sentencing Act, would make retroactive a 2010 law reducing mandatory minimums for crack possession. Under the measure, introduced by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, federal inmates sentenced under the old law could apply to have their sentences reduced.Revisions to the law reduced the racially unjust disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. For example, a five-year mandatory minimum sentence now applies for simple possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine rather than the 5 grams required under the old law, according to an analysis by Families Against Mandatory Minimums.Allowing offenders to retroactively reduce their sentences would address some cases highlighted in the American Civil Liberties Union's recent report, "A Living Death." There are at least 3,278 prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offenses in the federal system and Florida and eight other states that provided statistics, according to the report.The report found that taxpayers would save at least $1.784 billion if life sentences were eliminated for nonviolent offenses.The second bill being considered by the Senate committee would return discretion to judges in those and other cases. The Justice Safety Valve Act would allow judges to sentence federal offenders below mandatory minimum sentences.The measure, introduced by Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, would authorize judges to hand down less harsh sentences only if they determine doing so would not jeopardize public safety.America now has more prisoners than high school teachers, according to a recent Huffington Post report that cited federal data. If we're ever going to invest in preventing people from turning to crime rather than just building more prisons, at a minimum we need to reform mandatory minimum sentences.